Every February four intrepid poets set off on adventure into sonnet territory. Twenty-eight days, twenty-eight sonnets. Let's go!

19 February 2012

The Leaving of Harar

The outlaw death of Arthur Rimbaud

He lies upon a stretcher in the squareWith grim men, pistoled, daggered, standing guard:The leaving of Harar is proving hard,But harder still to stay under the glare,Such hatred and contempt. And so from thereBy camel, across countless burning yardsOf sand, at last a precious boarding-cardTo France, with gold enough to pay the fare.Then birds take flight around a drunken boatThat cuts the Meuse beneath those voiceless trees,Where reputation grips him by the throatAnd cancer drives him finally to his knees.The widow brings her devil-son back homeFrom Marseille, to a grave under the stone.